


Spring

by Ashapon



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Canon Compliant, Eventual demon-mating business, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-10-13 19:50:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10520661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashapon/pseuds/Ashapon
Summary: Spring vacation is a bad time to realize you’re in love with your best friend.





	

It was four days into spring break and Rin had managed to run straight into a tree, resulting in a nose bleed bad enough to send him to the nurse. Or rather, to see his brother, who spent the entire visit shoving swabs at his hemorrhaging nose and chiding his absentmindedness.

Suguro, who had by some miracle convinced him to go on a jog that morning, reasoned it was because it was so early.

“You haven’t been feeling well, right?” He sighed, eyebrows furrowed, apologetic. “Shouldn’t have asked you to come running, but I thought the exercise would help.”

Rin laughed it off, because if there was one great thing about being half-demon, it was his ability to heal. The bleeding stopped within minutes, but there was a nasty purple bruise on the bridge of his nose for hours.

He laughed it off because it was easier than admitting what had actually happened. Agreeing to go jogging with Suguro - who softened the blow of waking up early by conceding to push the time back a few hours - had been the first in a series of very bad decisions that he now had to deal with.

One, waking up. Two, agreeing to do any form of exercise at nine in the morning. Three, not being honest with himself by believing that Suguro wouldn’t actually show up in a pair of fitted shorts and a tank.

Four, not being honest with himself by thinking that he totally did not care about the defined curve of his friend’s calves, his ass, those arms.

Five, tree.

And this was not the first time his attention had been swayed by his friend.

When spring break started, he admitted to feeling a little strange, light-headed. He was more easily distracted than ever, according to Yukio, and woke up throughout the night in a cold sweat, from dreams he couldn’t remember.

It was Shura who offered the reasonable explanation that he was exhausted from recent events, it was possible his body was just attuning to the very appealing existence of a break for what felt like the first time in a long while. Yukio wasn’t convinced, but Rin was fine with it.

Feeling light-headed ninety percent of the time wasn’t great, but he probably just needed some extra sleep. He couldn’t complain about that.

Except he was beginning to notice that whatever the hell was wrong with him was worse when he was around certain people. The way he felt like he could barely breathe when Shiemi smiled at him or brushed her hair behind her ears. That wasn’t a surprise, honestly, because he’d long since developed a crush, one he thought would have faded by now since she’d turned him down.

But then it wasn’t just Shiemi and it wasn’t just her doing anything adorable, which was anything. After it was Shiemi, it became Suguro, it became about everything Suguro.

His laugh, his smile, his voice, the way he moved. The grain of rice stuck at the corner of his mouth at lunch when they all ate together. His mouth, his fingers carding through his hair, his eyes, how he sometimes snorted when Rin got him laughing hard enough. Every. Single. Thing.

Rin couldn’t escape it, didn’t even think that he wanted to, except it was driving him insane. So the logical thing had been to agree to spending more time together and that was how he ended up with a bruised nose and too many regrets to count.

Later that evening, when his nose had healed and their group had agreed to a collective study session/movie night/general hang out time, things got worse. It might have had something to do with occupying the dorm that Konekomaru and Suguro shared, but Rin was beginning to realize just how amazing Suguro smelled.

It was everywhere, too, a scent so intoxicating that Rin’s head was swimming and Suguro accused him of slacking off at least half a dozen times while they studied. A unique and surprising combination of petals, the pages of a well-loved book, fire, and wood.

As much as Rin wanted to retaliate in the face of these accusations, he thought against verbalizing that if Suguro wanted him to focus he should maybe consider not smelling so sweet.

It wasn’t enough that he smelled good, either, because there was something missing. Something that became apparent when Rin looped an arm around Suguro’s shoulders in an effort to ‘comfort him’ when he said he was against watching a horror film.

“No worries,” Rin grinned, puffing out his chest. “I’m staying the night, right? So I’ll protect you.”

Suguro shoved him off, his ears pink, his mouth twisting to a scowl.

“I’m not scared, idiot,” he countered. “You and Shima are wimps and I don’t want to hear you complaining all night.”

Shima protested, even though he’d also been against the film’s genre, and Rin let the conversation go when his mind unhelpfully latched onto another observation.

Suguro no longer smelled like himself, not entirely. Heady and potent, Rin caught his own scent winding its way to a permanent home among oak and paper and was all the more intrigued.

Was it possible to hide the way his friend smelled entirely?

It was much easier for Rin to experiment than to dwell on just how excited he was at the prospect of somehow becoming a part of Suguro’s being. So he nudged, he taunted and teased and got close and clung like the movie was actually terrifying instead of just lame.

As breathtaking as discovering Suguro’s unique scent was, this was better. Way better.

“Your hand’s shaking,” Rin accused, lining his palm up with Suguro’s when the movie ended. “It totally is!”

“Shut up,” Suguro hissed, his cheeks pink in the dim lighting. “We’re done, we’re going to bed.”

Shiemi and Izumo had left halfway through the film, both looking fairly pale until Izumo insisted she wasn’t going to deal with this ridiculous movie any longer. So it was just the four of them.

Suguro stomped off with a sympathetic Konekomaru and Rin flopped on the former’s bed while they got ready to sleep.

Shima was pressed against the side of the bed, pillow clutched to his chest. He heaved a shaky sigh, a weak laugh.

“I get to choose the movie next time,” he said, head falling back. “How are you not freaking out right now?”

Rin shrugged, rolling onto his stomach.

“It all seems really fake, I guess.”

Shima hummed, his expression amused.

“If you didn’t find it scary,” he raised an eyebrow, “why were you all over Bon like that?”

Rin knew he deserved that, but threw an annoyed huff in Shima’s direction regardless. He didn’t have time to reply before Suguro and Konekomaru were back and he was sitting up.

“I forgot a change of clothes,” Rin announced, sheepish, but deliberate. “I’m not used to packing for these kinds of things-”

Suguro silenced him by tossing a pair of sweats and a shirt at his face before sitting down on the edge of his bed.

Rin beamed, darting off to get dressed.

By the time he’d returned, enveloped in a shirt that was a little too big and pants an inch or two too long, everybody was settling down to sleep. He rolled into the futon that Shima wasn’t occupying and willed himself to sleep.

Based on the past few nights, he knew that the likelihood of resting well was slim. He was happy to even fall asleep for what felt like a few hours before his eyes shot open, his breathing labored, forehead perspiring, memory of any dreams long gone.

He groaned, bracing his face in his hands and taking a deep breath. Around him, he heard the soft inhale and exhale of slumber.

He didn’t know how long he was sitting like that, struggling to recall what had happened in his dream that would have shaken him awake, but he realized belatedly someone was speaking to him.

Rin glanced up, blinking through the dim light of the moon, and saw Suguro’s shadowed silhouette sitting up.

“’Kumura,” he heard Suguro clear his throat and mourned the lost of the sleepy murmur. “Can’t sleep?

Rin chuckled, whispered back a reply.

“Guess not,” he shifted, arms resting behind his head. “You up because of the movie?”

Suguro snorted in the silence, soft disbelief, a ‘Yeah, right’ without the words.

Rin hoisted himself up onto his knees, leaning forward to rest his folded arms on the end of the other’s bed. It was easier to speak like this, even though Konekomaru and Shima seemed undisturbed.

“It’s been like that for the past few days,” Rin admitted, tail swaying. “Can’t sleep very long or through the night.”

He watched Suguro move, turn his head to glance out the window and sigh.

“But you should rest!” Rin cut in, too loud, his laughter forced. “I’ll fall asleep eventually.”

He could imagine Suguro rolling his eyes in response; he was about to pull away and lie down again when Suguro pushed his blankets aside and stood.

“Taking a walk,” he said, not even bothering to slip on some shoes. “You can come with, if you want.”

Rin hopped onto his feet, mindful not to step on Shima as he followed.

He was fine with Suguro remaining silent while they walked, content with observing as his friend struggled to rake his bedhead into some form of order. He asked the occasional question (“Where we going?”) and received succinct, but appropriate answers (“Rooftop”) as they ascended the stairs.

Rin considered he was about to witness something delinquent in nature, but was surprised to find the door to the rooftop unlocked.

“Yeah,” Suguro raised an eyebrow as he closed the door behind him. “Some of the other guys come up here to smoke and they always leave it unlocked. They’ll probably get caught one of these days.”

“Suguro,” Rin covered his mouth, feigning shock. “Is that why you’re here? Peer pressure?”

“Yeah,” he stated. “Want one?”

Rin grinned, exhilarated.

“Really?”

Suguro turned around, frowning.

“Idiot,” he huffed. “No, that shit’s toxic. Lie down.”

He watched Suguro obey his own request, chin tilted up toward the sky.

“Fine,” Rin wilted, plopping down. “What are we doing?”

“Closing our eyes,” he did just that.

Rin squinted.

“Now what?”

Suguro exhaled, his breath clouded by the morning air, and shifted to rest his arms behind his head.

“Meditating,” he offered. “So shut up and breathe in. Then out, slow.”

Rin made a face, eyes still open, scrutinizing the rise and fall of his friend’s chest.

Suguro’s eyelashes fluttered and Rin was swift to close his eyes and pretend.

“Aren’t you not supposed to fall asleep when you meditate?” Rin asked.

“There are different forms,” Suguro closed his eyes once more. “I use this one to help me sleep.”

“Oh,” Rin noted the split of blue, orange and pink across the night sky, signaling the coming dawn. “You have a hard time sleeping?”

The slump of Suguro’s shoulders expressed defeat. He rolled onto his side to face Rin, cheek resting on the edge of his elbow.

“Yeah,” he supplied. “Once in awhile.”

Rin understood the risks of facing Suguro full on with this weird stint of his, but did so regardless.

“Is it because of ghosts?”

Suguro shook his head, laughter escaping him, which Rin considered a success.

“Why are you stuck on that?” it was getting brighter, Rin could see the way Suguro’s eyes crinkled at the corners, a smile so tender that he thought he might have been dreaming. “No, it’s…”

The smile faded, replaced by an exasperated huff, a hesitant silence.

“It’s like…” he tapped a finger against the smooth surface of the roof, searching for the words like they were carved in the stone. “Things get to be a lot, sometimes.”

Rin nodded. He understood, maybe not in the specific way Suguro was looking for, but it was enough.

“It’s like there’s too much going on,” Suguro continued. “Some nights my head is all over the place, so I come up here.”

Rin didn’t respond right away. He wished he had the words available, the perfect thing to say in situations like this, but he didn’t know what was going on in Suguro’s mind, what bothered him. There was a lot about his friend that he didn’t know and these moments were painful reminders of that.

The two of them sat like that for a few minutes, quiet, shivering from the early morning breeze, admiring the brilliance of daybreak. It was on the distant line of the horizon that Rin found his words.

“Suguro?” Rin watched his friend face him again, eyebrow raised. “You know, you’re like the second coolest person I’ve ever met.”

Suguro’s eyes widened a margin before his expression softened to something almost shy, a smile pulling at lips, the entire picture framed by the glow of the rising sun. He laughed and it was altogether an image Rin could savor every time he closed his eyes.

“Second coolest, huh?”

“Can’t be first at everything,” Rin shrugged. “Just preparing you for when I become Paladin.”

“Yeah?” He shook his head. “Look at you, always thinking of me.”

Rin laughed and hoped it sounded more convincing to Suguro than it did to himself.


End file.
